US wants to prolong Ukraine conflict : Putin

Dhaka August 17 2022 :

Inside Russia : Outside Russia : News Digest by the Embassy of Russian Federation in Bangladesh on August 17 2022 

INSIDE RUSSIA

Putin lashes out at West’s ‘vanishing’ hegemony, outlines Russia’s goals

PATRIOT PARK /Moscow Region/, August 16. /TASS/. Western countries are desperately clinging to their “vanishing hegemony” but the unipolar world order is becoming a thing of the past, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his address to the audience of the 10th Moscow Conference on International Security on Tuesday.

The head of state noted that the West needs conflicts in order to stay in power, so the US and its allies are actively meddling in the affairs of other countries, whipping up all sorts of provocations and civil wars. The West’s hegemony spells stagnation for the entire world. However, it is possible to reduce tension and overcome common threats by bolstering the system of a modern multipolar world. Russia will continue to take steps towards building a more democratic world and refining the existing mechanisms of international security.

TASS put together Putin’s key statements.

On multipolar world order

The contours of a multipolar world order are being actively shaped. “Increasingly more countries and peoples are choosing the path of free sovereign development based on their uniqueness, traditions and values.”

The objective processes of shaping a multipolar world are being “opposed by Western globalist elites who stoke chaos by igniting old and new conflicts and implementing the so-called containment policy, which essentially undermines any alternative sovereign paths of development.”

The globalist elites are “at all cost, trying to cling to hegemony that is slipping through their fingers, and seek to keep countries and peoples in the grip of the neocolonial order.” “Their hegemony spells stagnation for the entire world and for all of civilization, and it includes bigotry, cancel culture, and neoliberal totalitarianism.”

The era of a unipolar world order is vanishing into the past. “Only by substantially bolstering the system of a modern multipolar world it is possible to diminish tensions worldwide, overcome threats and risks in the military and political sphere, increase the level of trust between countries and ensure their stable development.”

On Ukraine

The West needs conflicts “to hold on to their hegemony.” “This is precisely why they planned to use the people of Ukraine as cannon fodder, implemented the ‘anti-Russia’ project, turned a blind eye to the spread of neo-Nazi ideology, to the mass slaughter of the Donbass residents, and have been flooding and continue to flood the Kiev regime with armaments, including the heavy weapons.”

Under these conditions, Russia decided to conduct a special military operation in Ukraine in full compliance with the UN Charter. “The goals of this operation have been clearly defined – it is to ensure the security of Russia and our citizens, and the defense of the Donbass residents from genocide.”

“The situation in Ukraine testifies to US attempts to prolong this conflict. And it acts exactly the same way by igniting a conflict potential in Asia, Africa and Latin America.”

On West’s actions

“The US and its vassals are grossly interfering in the domestic affairs of sovereign states. They organize provocations, state coups and civil wars. Using threats, blackmail and pressure, they attempt to force independent states to bend to their will and live according to rules that are alien to them.”

The West’s goal is to “hold on to its domination, using this model that enables it to feed off the entire world as it has done for centuries and such a model can only be sustained by force.”

The West brushed aside Russia’s proposals for mutual security measures. Meanwhile, NATO is expanding eastward, beefing up its military infrastructure. “Verbally, it is hypocritically explained by the necessity to bolster security in Europe, while just the opposite is occurring in reality.”

Aggressive military political unions, such as AUKUS (Australia, the UK and the US) are being formed by the West in order to “spread to the Asia-Pacific region its bloc system analogous to NATO in Europe.”

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan was a carefully planned provocation. “Once again, the US deliberately attempted to add fuel to the fire to destabilize the situation in the Asia-Pacific region. The American scheme with regards to Taiwan is not just a trip by one irresponsible politician but part of a deliberate conscious US strategy to destabilize and sow chaos with the situation in the region and worldwide, [this is] an obnoxious display of disrespect to the sovereignty of other countries and to its own international obligations.”

By acting this way, Western states attempt to distract their citizens from critical socio-economic problems by shifting the blame on to Russia and China for their own failures. “The so-called collective West is deliberately destroying the system of European security.”

On Russia’s plans

Moscow and its allies will continue to “refine the existing mechanisms of international security together with its allies, partners and associates and create new ones, consistently bolstering national armed forces and other security structures, and boosting their level of being outfitted with modern armaments and military equipment.”

Russia will also continue to ensure its national interests as well as the protection of its allies, and “take other steps to build a more democratic world.”

It is necessary to “restore respect to international law, and to its fundamental norms and principles.” It is important to bolster the positions of the UN and other international dialogue venues.

“The UN Security Council and the General Assembly, as it was initially conceived, should serve as effective instruments to decrease international tension and prevent conflicts, while working to guarantee reliable security and the well-being of countries and peoples.”

US wants to prolong Ukraine conflict – Putin

The US wants the Ukraine conflict to drag on for as long as possible, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.

“The situation in Ukraine demonstrates that the US is trying to prolong this conflict,” Putin stated at a security conference in Moscow on Tuesday.

Putin reiterated that Moscow launched its military operation in Ukraine in late February in order to “ensure the security of Russia and its citizens, and defend the people of Donbass from genocide.”

The president said the US has “set the role of cannon fodder for Ukrainians, implemented the ‘anti-Russia’ project [in Ukraine], turned a blind eye to the spread of neo-Nazi ideology, to the mass murder of the people of Donbass,” adding that the US has been “pumping the Kiev regime with weapons, including heavy weapons, and continues to do so.”

The US and its allies under NATO have been increasingly supplying Ukraine with weapons, including M142 HIMARS multiple rocket launchers, M777 howitzers, and combat drones.

US President Joe Biden said in June that NATO will support for Ukraine “as long as it takes to, in fact, make sure that they are not defeated.”

Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, citing Kiev’s failure to implement the Minsk agreements, designed to give the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk special status within the Ukrainian state. The protocols, brokered by Germany and France, were first signed in 2014. Former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko has since admitted that Kiev’s main goal was to use the ceasefire to buy time and “create powerful armed forces.”

In February 2022, the Kremlin recognized the Donbass republics as independent states and demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join any Western military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked.

Russian military commanders strictly follow Geneva conventions, Shoigu says

PARK PATRIOT /Moscow Region/, August 16. /TASS/. The observance of the Geneva conventions during the Russian special operation in Ukraine is the priority for Russian Army’s commanders at all levels, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Tuesday.

“I would like to separately speak about the humanitarian aspects of the special military operation,” Shoigu said speaking at the 10th Moscow Conference on International Security. “The observance of the Geneva conventions on the rules of warfare in the focus of commanders at all levels.”

“Since the launch of the operation relevant orders were issued stipulating the guidelines for military personnel’s conduct in regard to civilians and enemy’s prisoners,” he said.

According to Shoigu, Russian troops are actively involved in deliveries of humanitarian cargo to the liberated territories, in the restoration of the infrastructure and maintenance of the public order.

“This is how it was in Syria, in Nagorno Karabakh and this is how is now in Donbass,” the minister stated.

Shoigu also said that the ministry is very grateful to the United Nations and The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for their constructive and depoliticized cooperation in regard to the humanitarian aid deliveries during the special military operation.

The situation along the line of engagement in Donbass escalated on February 17. The Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) reported the most massive bombardments by the Ukrainian military in recent months, which damaged civilian infrastructure and caused civilian casualties.

On February 21, President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow was recognizing the sovereignty of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. Russia signed agreements on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance with their leaders. Moscow recognized the Donbass republics in accordance with the DPR and LPR constitutions within the boundaries of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions as of the beginning of 2014.

Russian President Putin announced on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics for assistance he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in Ukraine. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, noting that the operation was aimed at the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine.

The DPR and the LPR launched an operation to liberate their territories under Kiev’s control.

Russia warns of ‘direct military clash’ with US

The continued confrontation between the two powers could lead to unpredictable results, Russia’s US embassy warns

Washington’s behavior on the world stage risks direct conflict between the nuclear states, the Russian embassy in the US has warned.

“Today, the United States continues to act with no regard to other countries’ security and interests, which contributes to an increase in nuclear risks,” the embassy said in a statement on its Telegram channel.

“The [US’] steps to further engage in a hybrid confrontation with Russia in the context of the Ukrainian crisis are fraught with unpredictable escalation and a direct military clash of nuclear powers.”

The embassy noted that Washington has recently withdrawn from two key arms control agreements, the 1987 Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which banned certain classes of land-based missiles, and the 1992 Treaty on Open Skies, which allowed for surveillance flights over each other’s territories.

The embassy urged the US to “take a closer look at its own nuclear policy instead of making unfounded accusations against the countries whose worldviews do not coincide with the American ones.”

“Our country faithfully fulfills its obligations as a nuclear-weapon state and makes every effort to reduce nuclear risks,” the diplomats said.

The statement comes after the US accused Moscow of using the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine as cover for its soldiers. The plant, the largest in Europe, was seized by Russian troops during the early stages of Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine, which was launched in late February. It continues to operate with Ukrainian personnel under Russian control.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Russia’s action at the facility “the height of irresponsibility.” Russia and Ukraine, meanwhile, have been accusing each other of shelling the plant. According to Moscow, artillery fire by Ukrainians forces caused several fires and partial power outages this month.

Russia initiated a UN Security Council meeting last week regarding the situation around the Zaporozhye power plant. Russian envoy Vassily Nebenzia said that Moscow supports the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to inspect the facility as quickly as possible.

Crimea blasts was act of sabotage – Russian MoD

Civilian infrastructure was damaged following explosions at an ammo depot, the military has said

The incident on Tuesday morning that resulted in explosions at a military site in northern Crimea was an intentional act, an update by the Russian Defense Ministry claims.

Describing its response, the ministry said it was “taking necessary measures to eliminate the consequences of the sabotage.”

The explosions caused damage “to a number of civilian objects, including power lines, a power station, a railroad and several residential houses,” the statement said.

The site hit by the apparent attack is located near the village of Mayskoye in the Dzhankoy area of the Russian region. The military used it as a temporary ammo depot, it said earlier. The ammunition detonated due to a fire.

Sergey Aksyonov, the head of the Republic of Crimea, announced a region-wide state of emergency on Tuesday due to the incident.

Officials in Crimea said two civilians were injured in Mayskoye. The lives of both victims are not in danger, the reports said.

Train traffic was also disrupted in Crimea due to damage of the railway. The region’s government said it will deploy additional buses to transport passengers.

Another fire at an ammo depot happened last week at a military airfield near the resort town of Novofedorovka. The incident left one person dead and 14 others injured. The Defense Ministry did not report any findings of foul play behind it.

Russia accuses UK of ‘deliberate provocation’

The Defense Ministry says the British Air Force lodged a request to allow a reconnaissance plane to fly over Russia

Britain’s Royal Air Force is carrying out a provocative action in Russian airspace, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has warned. The statement came after the UK requested permission for a reconnaissance plane to fly over Russian territory.

On Tuesday, Russian military officials revealed that a “request has been lodged by the UK for the passing of a British reconnaissance plane RC-135 along a route which goes over the territory of the Russian Federation, among other countries.”

The ministry emphasized that it deemed “this action to be a deliberate provocation.”

The statement went on to say that the Russian Air Force had been tasked with preventing any “violation of the Russian Federation’s airspace.”

Moscow also pointed out that “all possible consequences” of the planned reconnaissance flight would “rest solely with the UK.”

The Russian Defense Ministry’s warning comes hard on the heels of another incident involving a British reconnaissance aircraft.

On Monday, military officials in Moscow claimed that an RC-135 surveillance jet – the same model as the one mentioned in Britain’s latest passage request – had entered Russian airspace in the Barents Sea near the city of Murmansk and major bases of the country’s Navy’s Northern Fleet. A Russian MiG-31BM interceptor forced the intruder to leave Russian airspace.

This was the first known incursion of NATO aircraft into Russian territory since Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine in late February.

Earlier that month, Moscow claimed that a US submarine had entered Russian waters and was subsequently chased off near the Kuril Islands in the northern Pacific – which the Pentagon denied at the time.

According to Moscow’s estimates, in 2021 alone, the number of reconnaissance flights by NATO aircraft rose by over 30%.

OUTSIDE RUSSIA

AUKUS deal could ‘detonate’ Asia-Pacific – Russia

The security deal between the US, Britain and Australia might morph into a military alliance, according to Sergey Shoigu

The AUKUS security pact between the US, Britain and Australia could “detonate” the Asia-Pacific region by introducing nuclear military drills, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has said. 

“The AUKUS union has the potential of becoming a military-political alliance. It can’t be ruled out that NATO’s joint nuclear planning and joint nuclear exercises would be brought to the region,” Shoigu said on Tuesday. 

“The bringing of the practice of conducting nuclear exercises from Europe would detonate the region. Although, one can assume that this is the precise goal of the US.”

The pact allows for Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines with the help of the US and Britain. “The implementation of this plan will have a profound negative effect on global and regional security and create an environment for the undermining of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,” Shoigu said.

Australia’s opposition leader and former defense minister, Peter Dutton, urged the government last week to acquire the submarines as soon as possible in the wake of renewed tensions between China and the US over Taiwan.

Established last year, AUKUS was promoted as an agreement to deepen defense ties between three English-speaking nations and enhance interoperability. In April, AUKUS leaders released a statement, affirming “their commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that Washington is not seeking to set up “an Asian NATO.”

Western countries waiting for ‘fall of Ukraine’ – Kiev

Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba says he is often asked by some of his counterparts how much longer Kiev can hold on

Several countries in the West are waiting for Kiev to surrender and think their problems will immediately solve themselves, said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba in an interview published on Tuesday.

“I often get asked in interviews and while speaking to other foreign ministers: how long will you last? That’s instead of asking what else could be done to help us defeat Putin in the shortest time possible,” Kuleba said, noting that such questions suggest that everyone “is waiting for us to fall and for their problems to disappear on their own.”

The foreign minister went on to suggest that some Western countries are ready to accept Ukraine’s surrender in the ongoing military conflict with Russia and have it concede some of its territories – something Kiev has repeatedly insisted it would never agree to.

Last week, Mikhail Podolyak, an aide to President Zelensky, ruled out Kiev’s military defeat as a possible scenario and stated that it would fight “to the last Russian citizen in Ukrainian territory,” with the help of Western weapons which he says will be funneled into the country regardless of the cost.

Podolyak also suggested that nobody would try to negotiate a truce with Russia at the expense of Ukraine, due to the reputation of President Zelensky for “not allowing any such talks behind his back.”

Zelensky has repeatedly condemned the insistence of some Western countries on a peaceful resolution to the conflict without considering Kiev’s interests, stating in June that “everyone wants to push us to some result, definitely not desirable for us,” while pursuing their own financial and political interests.

“Fatigue is growing, people want some kind of result for themselves. And we need a result for us,” the Ukrainian leader stated.

Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has predicted that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine would eventually end with a negotiated settlement but insisted that Kiev must continue to receive military support from the West to improve its negotiating position.

Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, citing Kiev’s failure to implement the Minsk agreements, designed to give the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk special status within the Ukrainian state. The protocols, brokered by Germany and France, were first signed in 2014. Former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko has since admitted that Kiev’s main goal was to use the ceasefire to buy time and “create powerful armed forces.”

In February 2022, the Kremlin recognized the Donbass republics as independent states and demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join any Western military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked.

Kiev removes monument to native writer

A memorial plaque to novelist and playwright Mikhail Bulgakov, put up in 2017, has been taken down from the Taras Shevchenko National University in Kiev. Ukrainian activists who campaigned against the Kiev-born author celebrated Monday’s move as a triumph over Russian “occupation.”

“Bulgakov is a symbol of Russian culture, and had nothing to do with the Ukrainian one – quite the contrary, in his works he denigrated everything Ukrainian,” said Tatiana Shvydchenko, an activist from the Expert Corps NGO, which petitioned for the plaque’s removal.

On her Facebook page, Shvydchenko called Bulgakov a “Ukrainophobe and praiser of the Russian world,” adding that the memorial to him was one of the “atavisms of the occupation period, which we urgently need to get rid of.”

Bulgakov (1891-1940) was born in Kiev and attended high school in the building currently housing the Shevchenko University – which is why the local authorities honored him with a plaque in 2017.

While he is best known for ‘The Master and Margarita’ – published long after his death – Bulgakov’s novel ‘White Guard’ was set in Kiev during the tumult of 1918. Though the novel was banned by the Soviet government, the stage play based on it – ‘The Days of the Turbins’ – was reportedly one of Joseph Stalin’s favorites.

Shvydchenko has also demanded the removal of a memorial plaque dedicated to students and teachers who died for the Soviet Union in the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945), calling it a “marker of Russian occupation.”

Announcing the long-heralded purge of Russian language and literature courses from the state curricula on Tuesday, the Ukrainian government specifically said Bulgakov – along with ‘Taras Bulba’ author Nikolay Gogol – will not be touched because their “life and work were closely connected with Ukraine.”

SPECIAL MILITARY OPERATION IN UKRAINE

Captured Western mercenaries could be executed – DPR

Three Western nationals – a Swede, a Croat, and a Briton – could be sentenced to death if found guilty of the crimes they are charged with, a court in the Donetsk People’s Republic has warned.

On Monday, Russian media reported that the judge informed the three men of the punishment they could face during a hearing in Donetsk. “The court is obliged to clarify that charges against [Matias] Gustavsson, [Vjekoslav] Prebeg, and [John] Harding call for capital punishment,” the judge said.

The charges include “undergoing training to seize violently power,” “violent seizure of power,” as well as “the participation of a mercenary in an armed conflict or military action.” The other two foreign fighters, Britons Andrew Hill and Dylan Healy, could reportedly face up to eight years behind bars.

According to TASS, all five pleaded not guilty, with Harding refusing to testify. Gustavsson insisted that he had not participated in fighting. At least some of the men were captured in the city of Mariupol, including at the Azovstal steel plant.

The next hearing in their case is expected in early October.

In June, a court in Donetsk sentenced to death three foreign men who served in the Ukrainian armed forces and fought for Kiev in the DPR. British citizens Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, as well as Moroccan Saadun Ibrahim, were found guilty of acting as mercenaries and attempting to seize power by force in the DPR. All three later filed appeals.

INSIGHTS

Study: Nuclear War Between Superpowers Would Starve 5 Billion People

Ian DeMartino, Sputnik News

The study comes as tensions are rising between the United States and Russia and China, holders of the three largest nuclear arsenals in the world.

While United States war hawks continually push more aggressive stances against fellow nuclear powers Russia and China on the global stage, a new study from Rutgers University reminds us that nuclear war would be bad. Really, really bad.

The study looked at six different nuclear war scenarios. Five of those scenarios looked at smaller nuclear conflicts between Pakistan and India, while the sixth examined what would happen in a large-scale conflict between Russia and the United States.

In a nuclear conflict between the two superpowers, more than 5 billion people would starve to death, according to the study.

What nuclear war looks like from space based on data from peer-reviewed science papers. A Nature Food paper today suggests that over 98% would starve to death in the US, Europe, China & Russia. pic.twitter.com/J0dtegXen4

— Future of Life Institute (@FLIxrisk) August 15, 2022

They determined this by estimating sun-blocking soot dispersals from the simulated conflicts. The data was entered into the Community Earth System Model, a climate forecasting tool used by the National Center for Atmospheric Research. This allowed them to estimate crop yields by country, along with changes to livestock pasture and marine fisheries.

Even the smallest scale nuclear war scenario the researchers looked at would be disastrous for global food supplies. They estimate that the average caloric production would be reduced by 7% worldwide within five years, which would be the largest change since the Food and Agricultural Organization started keeping records in 1961.

After a nuclear war between Russia and the United States, the amount of food produced globally would decrease by 90% in three to four years and 75% of the world would be starving within two years.

The study also looked at potential mitigation policies, like utilizing livestock grains to feed humans and increasing fishing operations. Unfortunately, those factors had a negligible effect on global food supplies.

More research is needed to provide a more complete picture of what the Earth would look like after a large-scale nuclear war, but that it would be the greatest disaster in known human history is without a doubt.

“For instance, the ozone layer would be destroyed by the heating of the stratosphere, producing more ultraviolet radiation at the surface,” said Lili Xia, lead author of the study. “We need to understand that impact on food supplies.”

The study comes one month after a cheerful public service announcement was released by NYC Emergency Management telling viewers how to respond to a nuclear attack. It ended with the host smiling and saying, “You got this.”

“The data tell us one thing: We must prevent a nuclear war from ever happening,” said Alan Robock, co-author of the study.

“If nuclear weapons exist, they can be used, and the world has come close to nuclear war several times. Banning nuclear weapons is the only long-term solution,” Robock said. “The five-year-old UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons has been ratified by 66 nations, but none of the nine nuclear states. Our work makes clear that it is time for those nine states to listen to science and the rest of the world and sign this treaty.”

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